Ethiopian Airlines App Adds Alipay Through CellPoint Mobile Payment Platform

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ethiopian Airlines, the largest aviation group in Africa and SkyTrax Four Star Airline, has partnered with CellPoint Mobile (www.cellpointmobile.com), a leading provider of sales and payment-side technology solutions for the worldwide travel sector, to accept payments via Alipay – China's leading alternative payment method (APM), in the mobile app of Ethiopian Airlines. This is the first APM integration for CellPoint Mobile as part of an ongoing partnership with the flag carrier of Ethiopia.

"CellPoint Mobile has demonstrated its commitment and knowledge of the Africa region as a member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), as well as its global reach as a payment service provider," said Miretab Teklaye, Director Digital, at Ethiopian Airlines. "The Alipay integration is the first in our PSP partnership in China and an important step in our airline's growth strategy for the mobile channel".    

Earlier this year, Ethiopian Airlines and CellPoint Mobile announced an ongoing partnership that includes implementation of the Velocity payment platform – a full merchant-side payment control environment built specifically for the travel industry. Velocity's comprehensive platform enables immediate access to multiple PSPs, acquirers and global consumer wallets and APMs.

Velocity also features a PCI DSS Level 1 certified card vault and advanced fraud monitoring – important value-adds for airlines operating to and from the growing APAC region, where local acquirer connections and support for local payment methods are paramount for success.

Payment Support for Airlines in New Markets
With 100 million Chinese traveling abroad every year, more merchants in Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America – and now Ethiopia – are investing in mobile solutions to support Alipay for Chinese visitors and tourists, as well as foreign expats living in China. In nearby Japan, the number of stores accepting Alipay doubled to more than 50,000 last year, as mobile payment transactions in China reached a record $12.8 trillion; in comparison, the U.S. had only $49.3 billion in total mobile payment transactions in 2017.

"By adding support for Alipay, Ethiopian Airlines is strengthening its position not only as the flag carrier of Ethiopia, but as a leading airline for commercial air travel within Africa," said Ciaran Wilson, Senior Sales & Account Director at CellPoint Mobile. "As part of our ongoing partnership, CellPoint Mobile will continue to support Ethiopian Airlines in its mobile payment strategies and provide more competitive and forward-looking PSP services in an increasingly complex payment environment."

Payment Platform for Airlines & Travel Merchants
As an official member of AFRAA, the regional body for African airlines, CellPoint Mobile is committed to the growth of the region's commercial aviation industry. As a mobile-first PSP, CellPoint Mobile can help carriers like Ethiopian Airlines gradually become more competitive in the mobile channel, reduce transactional friction, increase mobile look-to-book ratios, and boost incremental revenues throughout the entire passenger journey.

Ethiopian Airlines has prioritized the mobile channel and taken incremental steps to enhance customers convenience by partnering with one of today's most important payment methods for the global traveler – Alipay. CellPoint Mobile can help other airlines in Africa add new payment methods, grow sales and revenue and make travel easier for mobile users.

For more information about the Ethiopian Airlines deployment of Alipay or to interview Ciaran Wilson of CellPoint Mobile, please contact Vanessa Horwell at vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com.

About CellPoint Mobile
We Make Travel Easier™ for airlines, travel companies and their customers.
CellPoint Mobile provides airlines, ground and sea transportation providers, hospitality firms and travel companies across the globe with flexible, configurable solutions that help them collect revenues from the mobile channel and profitably manage interactions and transactions from both the selling side and the payment side. Dedicated to a client-first, mobile-first culture since 2007, CellPoint Mobile provides companies with the fintech and travel-tech solutions they need to get to market quickly:  booking, payments, alternative payment methods, ancillary sales, loyalty transactions, communications, stored payment capability, real-time reporting, reconciliation, connections to payment service providers (PSPs) and acquirers, and more. Serving companies on five continents, CellPoint Mobile has locations in Miami, London, Copenhagen, Dallas, Dubai, Pune and Singapore.  Visit www.cellpointmobile.com to learn more.

About Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seventy plus years of operation, Ethiopian has become the continent's leading carrier, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success. Ethiopian commands the lion's share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 116 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787-8, Boeing 787-9, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with eight business units: Ethiopian Regional Services; Ethiopian International Services; Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services; Ethiopian MRO Services; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering; Ethiopian Ground Services and Ethiopian Airports Services. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.

About Alipay
Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world's largest mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently works with over 200 domestic financial institution partners. Over the years, Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Alipay's in-store payment service covers over 40 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 29 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.

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SOURCE CellPoint Mobile